Community Activist's Accused Killer Now Set to Stand Trial

By: Brian Shields - Tue, 15 May 2012 17:41:45 -0800

     REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) - Prosecutors say a man accused of fatally shooting an East Palo Alto community leader is set to stand trial after receiving treatment at a state mental hospital.

      Last year, a San Mateo County judge found 59-year-old Gregory Elarms incompetent to stand trial for the murder of David Lewis.

      District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said Tuesday that two doctors have determined that Elarms is now fit for trial.

      Prosecutors say Elarms shot his childhood friend outside Hillsdale Shopping Center in June 2010. The shooting case went unsolved until Elarms called police offering information in the case, and they began to suspect him.

      According to police, Elarms believed gang members were after him and Lewis had turned against him.

      Lewis was co-founder of Free at Last, a group that helps people recover from substance abuse and incarceration.

      
      (Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)
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